Bill Text: NY S04413 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to notice of employee rights and remedies and the employee handbook; alters the date when such provisions take effect.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-11-25 - APPROVAL MEMO.21 [S04413 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04413-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4413
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     March 11, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. METZGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to notice of employee  rights
          and remedies
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 203-e of the labor law, as added by  a  chapter  of
     2  the  laws  of  2019,  amending  the labor law relating to discrimination
     3  based on an employee's or a  dependent's  reproductive  health  decision
     4  making,  as  proposed  in legislative bill numbers S. 660 and A. 584, is
     5  amended to read as follows:
     6    § 203-e. Prohibition of discrimination based on  an  employee's  or  a
     7  dependent's reproductive health decision making. 1. An employer shall be
     8  prohibited  from  accessing an employee's personal information regarding
     9  the employee's or the employee's dependent's reproductive  health  deci-
    10  sion making, including but not limited to, the decision to use or access
    11  a  particular  drug,  device  or  medical service without the employee's
    12  prior informed affirmative written consent.
    13    2. An employer shall not:
    14    (a) discriminate nor take any retaliatory personnel action against  an
    15  employee  with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges
    16  of employment because of or on the basis of  the  employee's  or  depen-
    17  dent's  reproductive  health decision making, including, but not limited
    18  to, a decision to use or access a particular  drug,  device  or  medical
    19  service; or
    20    (b)  require  an  employee  to  sign  a waiver or other document which
    21  purports to deny an employee the right to make  their  own  reproductive
    22  health  care  decisions,  including use of a particular drug, device, or
    23  medical service.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02778-03-9
        S. 4413                             2
     1    3. [An employer that provides an employee handbook  to  its  employees
     2  must  include  in  the  handbook  notice of employee rights and remedies
     3  under this section.
     4    4.]  An  employee  may  bring a civil action in any court of competent
     5  jurisdiction against an employer alleged to have violated the provisions
     6  of this section. In any  civil  action  alleging  a  violation  of  this
     7  section, the court may:
     8    (a)  award  damages, including, but not limited to, back pay, benefits
     9  and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred to a prevailing plain-
    10  tiff;
    11    (b) afford injunctive relief against  any  employer  that  commits  or
    12  proposes to commit a violation of the provisions of this section;
    13    (c) order reinstatement; and/or
    14    (d) award liquidated damages equal to one hundred percent of the award
    15  for  damages  pursuant  to  paragraph  (a) of this subdivision unless an
    16  employer proves a good faith  basis  to  believe  that  its  actions  in
    17  violation of this section were in compliance with the law.
    18    [5.] 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any rights
    19  of  an  employee provided through any other provision of law, common law
    20  or collective bargaining unit.
    21    [6.] 5. Any act of retaliation for an employee exercising  any  rights
    22  granted  under  this section shall subject an employer to separate civil
    23  penalties under this section. For the purposes of this section,  retali-
    24  ation  or  retaliatory personnel action shall mean discharging, suspend-
    25  ing, demoting, or otherwise penalizing an employee for:
    26    (a) making or  threatening  to  make,  a  complaint  to  an  employer,
    27  co-worker,  or  to  a  public  body,  that  rights guaranteed under this
    28  section have been violated;
    29    (b) causing to be instituted any proceeding under or related  to  this
    30  section; or
    31    (c)  providing  information  to, or testifying before, any public body
    32  conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry into any such violation
    33  of a law, rule, or regulation by such employer.
    34    § 2. Section 203-e of the labor law, as added by a chapter of the laws
    35  of 2019, amending the labor law relating to discrimination based  on  an
    36  employee's  or  a  dependent's  reproductive  health decision making, as
    37  proposed in legislative bill numbers S. 660 and A. 584,  is  amended  by
    38  adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
    39    6.  An  employer  that  provides an employee handbook to its employees
    40  must include in the handbook notice  of  employee  rights  and  remedies
    41  under this section.
    42    §  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
    43  manner as a chapter of the laws of 2019, amending the labor law relating
    44  to discrimination based on an employee's or a  dependent's  reproductive
    45  health  decision  making, as proposed in legislative bill numbers S. 660
    46  and A. 584, takes effect; provided, however that section two of this act
    47  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after such chapter of the laws  of
    48  2019, takes effect.